Substituted N-(aryl)-1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-a]-pyrimidine-2-sulfonamides (I) ##STR1## and substituted N-(aryl)-1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-c]-pyrimidine-2-sulfonamides (II), ##STR2## such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,740,233 and 5,010,195, are valuable herbicides for the selective control of weeds in agronomic crops. Compounds of this family have generally been prepared by the conventional reaction between an aryl amine (III) and a substituted 1,2,4-triazolopyrimidine-2-sulfonyl chloride (IV) ##STR3## in the presence of a tertiary amine base (U.S. Pat. No. 4,740,233) or an excess of the aniline (British Patent 951,652). This procedure is generally satisfactory for the preparation of substituted 1,2,4-triazolopyrimidine-2-sulfonanilides when the substituted aniline employed is aniline itself or is a substituted derivative of aniline that has similar reactivity as a nucleophilic reagent. However, when the substituted aniline is of substantially reduced nucleophilic reactivity due to the presence of electron-withdrawing substituents on the ring, and especially, to the presence of such substituents in the positions ortho to the amino function, or when the aryl group is an electron-withdrawing heterocyclic group, this method is very slow and provides low yields of the desired products. This reactivity problem is particularly unfortunate because the most herbicidally potent substituted 1,2,4-triazolopyrimidine-2-sulfonamides possess just such substituents.
In order to circumvent this reactivity problem, a strong base, such as an alkali metal alkyl or an alkali metal hydride, capable of converting the poorly nucleophilic substituted aniline to its corresponding metal derivative, is employed in place of the tertiary amine base as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,740,233. The metal derivative is preformed and then allowed to react with a substituted 1,2,4-triazolopyrimidine-2-sulfonyl halide. This procedure allows the compounds to be prepared, but it requires an excess of the metal derivative of the substituted aniline and is carried out below 0.degree. C., and, therefore, is not commercially desirable.
Alternatively, the nucleophilicity of the aniline can be increased by converting it into the corresponding N-trialkylsilylaniline. U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,096 describes the enhanced reactivity of N-trialkylsilylanilines in their coupling with substituted 1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine-2-sulfonyl halides; U.S. Pat. No. 5,010,195 describes the similar enhanced reactivity in the case of the corresponding 1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-c]pyrimidines. Although this procedure allows a wider range of products containing electron-withdrawing groups to be prepared, it requires additional steps to synthesize the N-trialkylsilyl-anilines and to recover and recycle the valuable silicon-containing reagent.
In view of the valuable herbicidal properties of the sulfonamides (I) and (II), it is highly desirable to have a direct process which can be used to prepare a wide variety of materials in which the aryl groups contain electron-withdrawing substituents. Ideally, this process should avoid exceedingly long reaction times and the need of a strong base. Additionally, this process should avoid superfluous reaction steps and the recovery and recycle of expensive reagents.